Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

What is the process and the Material list for completing this project

Hi,

I am not aware that Science Buddies sponsors a project on building Analog to Digital Converters.

Here is a Wikipedia overview article on ADCs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog-to- ... _converter

Here is a tutorial on building one type of ADC based on a controller chip:

http://ikalogic.com/tut_adc.php

Some information on digital to analog conversion(DAC):

http://www.ikalogic.com/dac08.php

You may find this site helpful(It has instructions and a parts list, but may be out of date - I have no way of verifying how useful it would be):

http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~dwk24/ADC.htm

This sounds like a fun engineering project! Please let me know how things work out.

Barrett Tomlinson

The last link posted by Barrett Tomlinson looks like a good list to me, but he's right, the actual parts numbers may be out of date.

If you go to Radio Shack or Fry's Electronics, someone there should be able to help you. If you had a circuit diagram of exactly what you wanted to build, that would be best. I can't find a good project-oriented lab with a circuit diagram online though. Here's one example:

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gqtan/ADC.htm

Also I remember something called the R-2R ladder for going back from analog to digital, if you wanted to go in that direction.

Let us know if you are further pursuing this, and I could be of more help!

laura

CrossFire wrote:What is the process and the Material list for completing this project

I built a similar project when I was in school. One of the keys to your success is deciding what your inputs and outputs are going to be. Your choices here are going to help determine both your parts list and your procedure. I think an interesting way to demonstrate your project is to have something that your audience can see or hear. You could, for example, use a solar cell on the input and have a speaker as the output. You could build a circuit that converted the analog solar cell output to digital and then created a beat proportional to the signal strength. Turn the flashlight on, it beats faster. Cover the cell with an opaque cloth it stops. Or you could have a microphone on the input and have your digital output from the conversion illuminate LEDs. The louder the sound, the higher the digital value shown by the LEDs. There are dozens more possibilities.

The key, I think, is to understand your objective. What is it that you want to show or demonstrate? How would this kind of conversion be useful in real life? How is it already used in products today?

Best wishes for success with your project.